Arsenal dealt another transfer blow as Juventus block move for highly-rated defender Merih Demiral
ARSENAL have been dealt a transfer blow with Juventus blocking their approach for Merih Demiral, according to reports.
Manchester United and Borussia Dortmund are among the other clubs to have had moves for the defender rebuffed by the Serie A side.
Brendan Rodgers' Leicester side also had a £25.5million offer knocked back at the start of the window.
claim Juve are unwilling to let their £35m man go at any cost.
Interestingly, Demiral has made only five appearances for the Old Lady in all competitions this season.
The 21-year-old Turkish international can play at centre-back or on the right of defence.
Unfortunately for him, those areas are well stocked with the likes of Danilo, Juan Cuadrado, Georgio Chiellini and Matthijs De Ligt.
Mikel Arteta is desperate to bring someone in in the middle of his back line - and other reports claimed they had contacted Bayern Munich about Jerome Boateng after being priced out of a move for Dayot Upamecano.
Nathan Ake remains an option too but Chelsea have first refusal on the Bournemouth star.
The Gunners boss has lost Calum Chambers for the rest of the season after he had surgery on a ruptured ACL.
That could force Arsenal transfer guru Raul Sanllehi's hand.
But he has previously warned against doing a lot of business in the January market, saying: "I don't believe much in the winter window.
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"But if you have the right plan in the summer and the team are performing at the level you expect, you should not go to that window, or try to avoid it.
"It's there for emergencies, a big injury or if something is really not working and you need to recover there. I give much more importance to the summer windows."
Arteta could argue his options at centre-back leave him needing to fill the spot to avoid a full-on crisis.